Main valve for dry-pipe automatic fire-extinguishing systems.



G. W. KERSTETER. MAIN VALVE FOR DRY PIPE AUTOMATIC FIRE EXTINGUISHINGSYSTEMS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 1's, 1911. RENEWED 1mm, 1912.

1,041,633. Patented Oct. 15, 1912.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH 0).. WASHINGTON, n. c.

' the chamber. The chamber. 3 has a port or cHAnLns W. knusrnrnn, orCHICAGO, ILLIiIoIs.

MAIN VALVE FOR DRY PIPE AUTOMATIC FIRE-EXTINGUISHING- SYSTEMS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

PatentedOct. 15,1912.

Application filed August 16, 1911, Serial No. 644,345. Renewed August 8,1912. Serial No. 714,134.

To all whom it may .concem:

Be it known that I, CHARLES W. ,KER srnrnn, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Chicago, in the State of Illinois, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Main Valves for Dry-PipeAutomatic Fire-Extinguishing Systems, of which the following is aspecification.

The present invention relates to ,a main valve for a dry pipe automaticfire extinguishing system, the general purposes of which are well knownby those skilled in the art and need not be herein set forth at length.

The objects of the invention, generally stated, are to provide a valveof this class which shall be improved in its construction county of Cookand in the respects that its number of necessary parts is mlmmized, itsconstruction and i mode of operation simplified, and its ciliciencyassured. In accomplishing these objects 'I make use of holding meansinvolving v the principle of a strut which has long been 1 embodied inthe construction of sprinkler i heads, the strut, according to thepresent invention, being provided with certain accessories, not found insprinkler heads, which 5:

adapt it for use in main valves.

drawing, which is made a fication and in which:

acts in one direction. Fig. .3 is a plan View 1 p lever 21, fulcrumed 1nthe chamber 2 at one The valve casing 1 may consist of an inteof a linkhereinafter described.

gral casting and has within it a chamber 2,

chamber.

tem pressure is normally maintained within opening 5 for the inlet ofwater, said chamber being maintained at atmospheric pressure through adrip pipe 6 provided with a valve 7 which is normally held open by a.delicate spring and closes by water-pressure when Water is admitted forsupplying the system. c

The inlet port is controlled by a valve 8 pivoted within the chamber 3at one side of the port, as at 9. The port is surrounded by or formedthrough, a ring or short cylinder 10 the top of which constitutes a seat11 against which the valve is adapted to rest through the medium of asuitable packing ring, 12, which is clamped against the under side ofthe main disk of the valve by a follower ring 13 which has a centralopening for the free passage of an externally threaded hollow stem 14projecting downward from the under side of said disk, the follower ringbeing held in place by a nut 15, provided with lugs or other suitablefeatures" 16 for receiving a wrench or tool by which it is screwed ontothe stem 14:, a second packing ring 17 being interposed be tween the nutand the follower ring. "The packing ring 17 engages the ring 10 somedistance below its upper end has a piston fit in the ring 10 so that itwill act as a piston valve and prevent the flow of water through theport 5 even when the valve 12 is unseated and slightly above its seat.This packing ring 17, therefore, forms an auX- f iliary valve whichprevents the leakage be- To these ends the invention consists in thefeatures of novelty that are hereinafter described with reference to theaccompanying part of this specitween the valve 12 and its seat, shouldthe valve be momentarily unseated, as by water hammer, and in this waythe admission of water to the low pressure chamber is pre- 1 c venteduntil the holding mechanism is Figure 1 is a vertical axial section ofaj main valve embodying the inuention. Fig. 2 is an axial section of thering carrying the seat of the air valve and a yoke forming a 1 fixedabutment against which the strut 're- 5 tripped.

The chambers 2 and 3 communicate with each other through a port 18,formed through a ring 19 which fixedly engages the valve casing and theupper surface of which forms a seat for a valve .20, carried by'a sideof the port as shown at 22. The main disk of the valve bears against itsseat through the medium of a packing ring 23 which is clamped in placeby a nut 24 screwed on to a stem 25 which projects downward from theunderside of the main disk of the valve. The ring l9 :is formedintegrally with a yoke 26 which affords a fixed abutment against whichone end of each of a pair of straight struts bears, .the other end ofeach of said struts bearing upon one of a pair of bent levers 28,respectively. Each of the struts bears against the corresponding leverat a pointsomewhat oil'- set from a straight line drawn from one end ofthe lever to the other and one end of each of the levers bears directlyagainst the upper side of the valve 8 at the point 30 while its otherend is sloped or inclined, and engages a complementary inclined surfaceof a shoulder 31 on a link 32.

It will be understood that the link has a shoulder 31 at each end, thatthe inclined 10 surfaces of said shoulders are presented inward, towardeach other, so as to engage the outwardly presented inclined surfaces ofthe levers 28, whereby when the parts are thus engaged the levers willbe prevented from 5 moving away from each other. The tendency of theshoulders 31 is to draw the lever toward each other when downwardpressure is exerted upon the link 32, the engaging inclined surfacesacting as cams, and 2 this drawing of the upper ends of the leverstoward each other will rock them about their bearing points 30 on thevalve 8 and move the bearing points 29 of the struts 27 toward eachother, thus producing an endwise pressure which reacts in one directionagainst the yoke 26 and in the other direction against the valve 8. Theaforesaid downward pressure upon the link 32 is exerted by a nut 33fitting on the stem 25 and having suitable means for engagement eitherby hand or by wrench or other tool for turning it, the lower face of thenut being in direct contact with the upper face of the link and the linkbeing provided with a central opening 34: for the free passage of thestem 25, on to the lower end of which is turned a nut 35 adapted toengage the under side of the link. The levers 28 are preferably more orless flexible, or springy, and this is preferred because the waterhammer, especially if it is excessive, will be taken up and dissipatedby the levers and thus prevented from even momentarily unseating the airvalve 20 and permitting a reduction of the air pressure in the system,but where the water hammer is not severe the levers may, if desired, berigid, or practically so.

The struts and levers are connected to loose chains 36 which areanchored to lugs 37 in the chamber 3 for the simple purpose ofpreventing them to escape from the chamber or obstructing the ports whenthe parts of the valve holding mechanism separate. What I claim as newand desire to secure by Letters Patent is: A

1. A main valve for dry pipe automatic fire extinguishing systems havinga casing, said casing having an air chamber communicating with thesystem, a second chamber having a port for the inlet of water, valvesadapted to said ports, respectively, and mechanism interposed betweenthe valves for transmitting pressure from one to the '65 other, saidtransmitting means having apair of levers, a pair of struts, one end ofeach of which bears against one of the levers, an abutment against whichthe other ends of said struts bear, and means interposed between the airvalve and the levers: for normally holding the levers in the operativepositions.

2. A main valve for dry pipe automatic fire extinguishing systems havinga casing, said casing having an air chamber communicating with thesystem, a second chamber having a port for the inlet of water, valvesadapted to said ports, respectively, and mechanism interposed betweenthe valves for transmitting pressure from one to the other,saidtransmitting means having a pair of levers, a pair of struts, oneend of each of which bears against one of the levers, an abutmentagainst which the other ends of said struts bear and means interposedbetween the air valve and the levers for converting the downwardpressure of the air valve into lateral pressure against the levers forforcing them toward each other.

3. A main valve for dry pipe automatic 9O fire extinguishing systemshaving a casing, said casing having an air chamber communicating withthe system, a second chamber having a port for the inlet of water, and aport through which said chambers communi- 5 cate, in combination withvalves adapted to said ports, respectively, and means interposedbetweenthe valves for transmitting pressure from one 'to the other, saidtransmitting means having a pair of levers, a pair of struts bearingupon the levers, a link connecting the ends of the levers and meansinterposed between the link and the air valve for forcing the linktoward the levers, the engaging surfaces of the link and levers be inginclined or cam-likeq r 4. A main valve for dry pipe automatic fireextinguishing systems having a casing, said casing having an air chambercommunicating with the system, a second chamber having a port for theinlet of water, and a port through which said chambers communicate, incombination with valves adapted to said'ports, respectively, and meansfor transmitting pressure from one of said valves to the other, saidtransmitting means having a pair of levers, a pair of struts eachbearing at one end upon one of said levers, and means interposed betweenthe air valve and levers for drawing the levers toward each other.

' 5. A main valve for dry pipe automatic fire extinguishing system shaving a casing, said casing having an air chamber communicating withthe system, a second chamber 7 having a port for the inlet of water,and'a port through which said chambers communicate, in combination withvalves adapted to said ports, respectively, and means for transmittingpressure from one of said valves to I the other, said transmitting meanshaving a pair of bent spring levers, a pair of struts port through whichsaid chambers communicate, in combination with valves adapted to saidports, respectively, and mechanism for transmitting pressure from one ofsaid valves to the other, said transmitting mechanism having a pair ofbent spring levers, a pair of struts one end of which bears upon one ofsaid levers, a link connecting said levers and means engaging the linkfor holding' it normally in operative position.

7. A main valve for dry pipe automatic fire extinguishing systems havinga casing, said casing having an air chamber communicating with thesystem, a low-pressure chamher having a port for the inlet of water, anda port through which said chambers communicate, in combination withvalves adapted to said ports, respectively, and mechanism located in thelow-pressure chamber for holding the water valve closed, said holdingmechanism having a pair of offset spring levers, one end of each ofwhich bears upon the upper side of the water valve, a link connectingthe other ends of said levers for normally preventing them from movingaway from each other, a stem projecting from the under side of the airvalve and engaging the link for normally holding it in operativeposition, a pair of straight struts one end of each of which bears uponone of said levers at an offset point, and a yoke supported by thecasing, upon which the other ends of said struts bear.

CHARLES W. KERSTETER. Witnesses:

L. M. HOPKINS, H. C. HILL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

